


Snugglebunny

by Iamsherlocked67



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Best Friends, Hurt/Comfort, No Slash, Nothing nasty, Sugary sweet, stuffed bunny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 19:18:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5714059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamsherlocked67/pseuds/Iamsherlocked67
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jamie wins a stuffed bunny. Tyler loves it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snugglebunny

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to read something disgustingly sweet, so I said, hey, why not write it yourself? Set at the beginning of the 2015-2016 season.

Objectively, it is an ugly stuffed animal. It’s a big floppy-eared bunny wearing a hideous flowered vest that Jamie won when the team went to their annual season ticket-holder event at Six Flags. Jamie had won the bunny at one of the games, the one where he shot water into a clown’s mouth. Tyler was sure that he would have given it away to one of the many children at the event, but nope. Jamie carried around the bunny the whole night, even putting it on his shoulders at one point with a big grin on his face, calling it “Snugglebunny.” And, then, when some of the team went back to Tyler’s afterward, Jamie made sure to put the bunny on its own chair and to protect it from his rude teammates who wanted to throw it in Tyler’s pool. Everyone began to head out around 1AM but Jamie was the last to go since he only had to walk a few blocks home. 

On his way out, Jamie says “Segs, I am trusting you with Snugglebunny. Are you up for the challenge?”

Tyler laughs and promises to protect the bunny from Marshall and Cash. He is still laughing a few minutes later when he is shutting off the lights and heading to bed. For no discernible reason, Tyler grabs the bunny and brings it into his bedroom with him. He looks around his room for a few seconds trying to find the perfect spot for the bunny. No place he puts it seems right, so he just tosses it onto his bed and forgets about it. 

The next morning, Tyler wakes up with fur in his face and sleepily says “Marshall, get off my face”. When he hears the dog bark from the other side of the room, Tyler jumps up, scared of what is on suffocating him. Seeing that it is the Snugglebunny, Tyler begins to laugh and goes for his phone to text Jamie and tell him that the bunny attacked him. But, before he sends the text, Tyler reconsiders. Jamie might think it is weird that Tyler slept with the bunny. Tyler thinks it is weird himself, but hey, he didn’t mean to. While Tyler is contemplating this, he is absentmindedly holding SB, as he now calls the bunny, and he notices that it smells like Jamie. It is a combination of sweat, cologne and Jamie’s particular smell. Tyler grabs the bunny tighter as he sniffs again. Then, he realizes what he is doing and drops SB, laughing at himself as he heads into the shower.

Over the next few weeks, Tyler is super busy with training camp and the start of the season. After the Stars missed the playoffs last year, Tyler has dedicated himself to “being better.” Hey, if the mantra is working for Kaner in Chicago, it certainly can’t hurt in Dallas. He basically falls into bed exhausted each night and if he grabs SB and holds it up to his face before he falls asleep, hey, nobody needs to know.

What everyone does know if that Tyler is an extremely tactile person. He needs affection like some people need to eat. A casual arm around his shoulders or a quick head rub just makes him happy. This need really freaked out Jamie when Tyler first arrived in Dallas since he is not demonstrative but since they have been playing together for over two years, Jamie has adapted. What that means is he is OK with being Tyler’s jungle gym. Nobody really chirps them about it because, honestly, nobody on the Stars is safe from Tyler if he needs love. But, everyone knows that Jamie is really Tyler’s rock, the person he needs to ground himself. Jordie is second but beyond that, any hug works for Tyler. Tyler’s needs ebb and flow but his need for reassurance and love peak when they play Boston in TD Garden. 

As Tyler begins to pack for the Stars’ upcoming four-game road trip east, which includes a stop in Boston, he finds himself looking at SB, wondering if he can bring it. He doesn’t have a roommate, he reasons with himself, so who will know? After going back and forth, he tosses the bunny into the bottom of his duffel.

After starting the trip with a loss in Toronto, Tyler isn’t in a good mood. Neither is anyone else. They all decide to head back to the hotel and meet in the bar downstairs. Jamie asks Tyler to wait for him by the elevator so they can head down together. When they get in the car, Jamie sniffs and looks at Tyler oddly.

“Ty, did you change your cologne?” Jamie asks.

“Uh, no. I always wear Spicebomb” Tyler replies.

“Oh. I smell Drakkar, the one I wear, and I know I didn’t put it on” Jamie says. “I guess someone had it on in here before.”

With that, the elevator doors open and the boys head into the bar. Tyler is thankful that the conversation is over because he knows what has happened. The shirt he is wearing was next to SB in his bag and the scent must have transferred. He tries to sit far away from Jamie all night, but Jamie continually shows up next to him so Tyler gives up. When Jamie doesn’t mention it again, Tyler thinks he must have forgotten about it. 

The next morning as Tyler is getting ready to meet the team downstairs to head to the airport, Sharpy bangs on his door. When Tyler opens up, Sharpy bursts in.

“I have an emergency, Seggy! You have to help me” Sharpy pants

“What?” Tyler says fearfully. Everyone knows not to trust Patrick Sharp.

“I ran out of gel. Can I borrow some? I went to our Captain and he uses some CVS brand shit. I am sure you have the good stuff” Sharpy says.

Tyler laughs and says “Yeah, sure. It’s right in my bag. Help yourself” as he turns away to head back into the bathroom. 

Sharpy begins to say “I knew you would have….” and stops dead. “Umm, Tyler, what is this? Isn’t this the stuffed animal Jamie won at Six Flags?”

Tyler walks out of the bathroom to see Sharpy holding SB in his hands. Tyler feels his stomach drop and the blood drain from his face.

“Give it to me!” he says as he grabs for SB. Sharpy holds it out his reach and just looks at him. Whatever expression Tyler has on his face, though, makes Sharpy hand over the stuffed animal. Tyler feels his face begin to redden.

Tyler mumbles, “It’s nothing. Please don’t say anything”

Sharpy shakes his head and sits down on the bed, talking to himself. “Seven years in Chicago I had to put up with this shit. Seven years of pining and whining. I am too old for this. Too old. “

With that he stands up and looks at Tyler and says “ I am not going to tell anyone because, contrary to popular belief, I am not a dick. But, I am not going through what I went through in Chicago for seven years. No pining and no whining! Do you understand me?” 

And, then muttering to himself “I thought Dallas would be different. Why did I think that? Because I am stupid.” Sharpy walks out the door. Without the hair gel.

Tyler just looks after him, speechless. He knows what Sharpy is referring to, of course. He had been on the receiving end of some drunken phone calls from Kaner himself. But, was Sharpy saying that he and Jamie? Are like Jonny and Pat? Tyler doesn’t see it. First, while Tyler is most decidedly bi, Jamie is most definitely straight. And second, he honestly has never thought of Jamie that way. When Tyler thinks of Jamie, he thinks of home and safety. OK, there is no denying that Jamie is hot as hell and that he could understand why people want to climb him like a tree, but that wasn’t what he felt. Jordie, maybe. But the elder Benn was also as straight as a ruler.

What Tyler does do is call Kaner, immediately.

“Tyler Seguin! What’s up, man?” Pat says sleepily

“Hey, Pat. So sorry to bother you, but I have a quick question. If Sharpy found out something very embarrassing about me and he promised not to share it, will he keep his promise?” Tyler asks.

All he hears is laughing that turns into guffawing that then turns into coughing. He then hears Pat say “Babe, Sharpy found out something embarrassing about Seggy and Tyler wants to know if Sharpy is going to use it against him.” Then he hears another person, who he assumes is Jonny, losing their shit laughing.

Tyler says “Thanks for nothing, asshole” and hangs up. He is screwed.

Tyler spends the flight to Boston giving Sharpy the side-eye, fully expecting him to share the fact that he has a stuffed bunny, that his captain won, in his duffle. Surprisingly, Sharpy is silent though he does keep catching Tyler’s eye and pretending like he is about to say something. Tyler is exhausted by the time they get to Boston. 

But, the game. The game that night is awesome. Tyler gets a hat trick and he finally feels like the wound he got in his soul when he was traded has completely healed. Though he will always miss Boston, Dallas is his home. And Jamie is his person. Tyler laughs to himself when he realizes he sounds like a Shonda Rimes character but it is true.

All the boys want to take him out so he asks Patrice where the hot club is in Boston and Patrice, always a buddy, hooks them up with a private room at the hottest dance club in Beantown. Some of the boys pick up but Tyler chooses to just soak in the love he is getting. Around 3AM, they decide to head back to the hotel and since Tyler had stopped drinking a while ago, he doesn’t have much more than a buzz on. After he and Jamie half-carry the rookies back to their rooms, Tyler can tell Jamie is wired, so he asks if he wants to come to his room for a bit. Jamie immediately says yes.

Once they get into Tyler’s room, Jamie sprawls on the bed while Tyler goes to grab sweats out of his duffel bag. When he comes out of the bathroom, he sees Jamie holding Snugglebunny.

“Tyler, you bring Snugglebunny on the road with you? That is friggin’ awesome” Jamie say with a smile.

Tyler immediately blushes and just mumbles “It just fell in my bag.”

Jamie looks at him incredulously and it is clear he doesn’t believe him. “Really? You didn’t notice a huge floppy-eared stuffed animal in your duffel?”

Tyler walks over to the bed and grabs the bunny from Jamie. “Fine. I brought it with me. Boston is hard for me and SB makes me feel better.”

Jamie puts up his hands defensively and says “Whoa! I didn’t say anything. I think it’s cute.”

“Yeah, real cute. A 23-year old who sleeps with a bunny that smells like his best friend” The minute the words leave Tyler’s mouth, he realizes that he shouldn’t have said them. He is going to back track but before he can, Jamie starts to speak.

“Is that why you sleep with it? Because it smells like me?” Jamie says quietly.

Tyler knows he may as well tell the truth so he says just as quietly “Not at first. The first time, I didn’t even realize the bunny was in my bed. But then, it smelled like you.”

Tyler stops and looks at Jamie. The expression on his face is open and curious, nothing that would make Tyler think that Jamie will make fun of him, so he continues.

“I know it is stupid, but you are, like, home to me. I was lost when I got to Dallas and you and Jordie grounded me. Just being around you calms me down. And, you didn’t care that I like to touch people all the time. No matter what, you will hug me or touch me and make me feel loved. Snugglebunny smelled like you and made me feel the same way. I will understand if you don’t want to hang around with me anymore. I know this is, like, so weird for your teammate to say. Just, please don’t tell anyone. OK? People think I am weird enough.”

Tyler can’t look at Jamie’s face when he is done and turns around to fiddle with his clothes in his duffle bag. When Jamie doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, Tyler knows that his neediness has pushed him away. It wouldn’t be the first time Tyler has lost a friend, a confidante, because he needed so much. So, he is shocked when Jamie grabs his arm and turns him around.

“Tyler. Look at me. You are not weird. You are you and you need what you need. It’s fine.” Jamie says firmly.

Tyler looks at Jamie and almost believes what he is saying to him. But, Tyler knows that even his closest friends have limits with him and he doesn’t want to reach them with Jamie. So, he gives Jamie a smile and says “Thanks, buddy. I appreciate it. And, you won’t tell anyone, will you?”

Jokingly, Jamie says “Not even Jordie? Sometimes I think you like him better than me.”

Tyler laughs and says “I thought you would have texted Jordie by now with this prime chirping material. Honestly, I think of you two as a package deal. Is there anything you don’t tell him?”

Jamie thinks for a minute and says “Nope. Darth knows pretty much all.”

Tyler replies “If you feel the need to tell JoBenn, that’s fine but nobody else. Except, Sharpy knows.”

Jamie looks at him in shock and says “How the hell does Sharpy know and nobody else knows? What, did you threaten to shave his head or something?”

Tyler begins to blush and says “Uh, no. He just said he isn’t a dick about important things and that, um, …nothing”

Jamie puts on his captain’s voice and says “Tyler, what else did he say?”

Tyler has no defenses against that voice and says “He said that he wasn’t going to go through seven more years of pining and whining…”

It takes Jamie a minute to put everything together and then, with a surprised look on his face, he says “You mean he thinks we are like Jonny and Patrick? Tazer and Kaner? Me and you? Why would he think that?”

Tyler just wants this conversation to end so he says “Maybe because I sleep with a bunny that my captain won and smells like him?”

“So?” Jamie replies. “That doesn’t mean you want to bone me. You aren’t gay. I’m not gay.”

Tyler goes quiet and Jamie says apprehensively “You’re not gay, are you? You would have told me, right?”

Tyler says “I’m bi. But, no, I still don’t want to bone you. Sorry.”

Jamie has a weird look on his face and Tyler panics. “I promise, Jamie. Nobody on the team knows so it’s not going to come out. I won’t embarrass the Stars like I supposedly did the Bruins. And, because it weirds you out, I won’t hug you or anything. It will be fine” he rambles.

Then, Jamie gets an angry look on his face and says “Shut the fuck up! Do you think I am upset because you are bi or that you don’t want me? You are such a fool sometimes. I am upset because we have been friends, best friends, for over two years now and you don’t tell me something so huge? Tyler, I have told you everything about me. Stories that even JORDIE doesn’t know. Oh, my God. I have literally cried on your shoulder. Real tears, Tyler. Me! Crying! I trust you with everything and you didn’t think you could tell me this? I honestly don’t care who you sleep with as long as you are happy and they treat you well. Because I am your best friend.” Jamie pauses and then continues “But, maybe I’m not.”

Jamie looks at the digital clock on the night stand and sees that it is 4:30. He heads for the door and says “Tyler, we have to meet the bus at 9 so you better get to sleep.”

Tyler cuts him off and grabs his arm before he can open the door. “Jamie” he says in a strangled voice, “You ARE my best friend. Please don’t go before we talk this out.”

Jamie looks at Tyler’s face and can see the tears threatening. He shrugs off Tyler’s arm and says “OK” and heads over to the desk chair and sits. “Talk. Explain.”

Tyler sits on the bed and rubs his hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Jamie. I should have told you but the last time I told someone, it didn’t go so well. Oh, they pretended it didn’t matter, but I could tell they treated me differently. I didn’t want to lose you as a friend or the Stars as my team. I really do love it here. And, I know that opening up is hard for you so I am happy that you feel like you can trust me. And, I do trust you. I trust you so much. But, this was the one thing that I barely trust myself with. Do you understand?”

Jamie realizes that he may have overreacted and doesn’t even see how a discussion about a stupid stuffed animal turned into this. He takes a deep breath and says “Ty, I am sorry. I overreacted. You don’t have to tell me anything and just because I confide in you, doesn’t mean that you need to reciprocate. Everyone is entitled to their secrets. I just had too many and wanted to tell someone and I trust you. I love you, man.”

Tyler stares at the open and slightly scared expression on Jamie’s face and can’t help but reach for him. He pulls him into a tight hug and murmurs into his ear “I love you, too.” It’s all he trusts himself with. He knows if he says anything else, he will start to cry.

When Jamie pulls away, his eyes are red and watery. He gives a little chuckle and says “See? I trust you with crying—again!”

Tyler gives a phlegmy laugh and shakes his head. “I am so telling Sharpy that you are a crybaby!”

Jamie punches him in the arm and says “We good now, Seggy? I love you, you love me. You like the way I smell. Anything else?”

Tyler gives Jamie a sly smile and says “Now you have to say something you like about me.”

Jamie sighs and says “OK, only because now it is 5AM and that’s when all the good stuff comes out, I will admit that your abs are so damn hot”

Tyler cracks up and walks over to Jamie, lifting his shirt as he goes. “Rub them, Jamie!”

Jamie can’t help but laugh as he rubs his hands over Tyler’s abs. “Very nice, Seggy.” he says. “But, we really need to go to sleep. We have to get up in like an hour.”

Tyler asks shyly, “Do you want to just sleep here?”

Jamie knows that there is more to this question—it is Tyler’s way of seeing if Jamie’s feelings for Ty have changed now he knows he is bi so he replies “That would be awesome” and strips down to his boxers and hops into bed. Tyler does the same.

A few minutes pass with both men holding themselves stiffly on either side of the bed. Finally, Jamie reaches across the bed and pulls Tyler over, resting Ty’s head on his chest with his arm holding him close. Tyler lets out a contented sigh.

When Tyler’s breathing has evened out and Jamie thinks he is almost asleep, he says quietly “Ty, you know, anytime you need the real thing, need me, to hold you like this, to snuggle with, all you need to do is ask. I will be there for you.”

Tyler snuggles in closer to Jamie and says just as quietly, “I know, Jamie. You are my snugglebunny.”


End file.
